Paper-making device



June 28, 1927. 1,633,960

, s. A. STAEGE v PAPER MAKING DEVICE Filed July 15, 1925 INVENTOR l fep/ven A deq@ WITNESSES: v

' Patented June i?8, 1927.

UNITED STATES 41,633,960- PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN STAEGE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0` WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A COEPQBATION OF PENNSYL- .VALNIA.

PAPER-.MAKING DEVICE.

Application illed July 18,1925. Serial No. 43,204.. t

My invention relates to paper making devices and particularly to means for handling a web of paper.

One object ofvmy invention is to provide '5 a relatively simple and inexpensive means for transferring a lead strip of a web of vpaper from one another.

Another object of my invention is pro.

vide a combined moving mechanical means and pneumatlc means or. gu1dmg a lead strip or a web of paper from one supportin meansto another in a' dryer unit.

practicing my invention, I provide an endless belt that travels in a direction substa-ritially at right angles to a plurality `of endless belts, and pneumatic means for causing a lead strip or a web of paper to operatively engage, or be disengaged from, the

laterally moving endless belt to elfect the transfer of the lead strip or of the web of paper from one endless belt to another. In the single sheet of drawings, Figure l is a-view, partially in vertical longitudinal section and partially in side elevation, of a -device embodying myinvention, and l Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in section of a portion of the device embodying my invention.

I have elected t9 illustrate and describe my invention in vci'mection with an electrically heated dryer'unit, although its useis not restricted thereto, nor isv it restricted to the particular embodiment shown in the drawm s.V

A caslng 11 is indicated schematically only as comprising an suitable or desired construction that'wi permit of substantially entirely enclosing and. heat-insulating a 49 space of predetermined volume and dimensions. An entering slot 12 and a leavin slot 13 are provided in two of the walls o the casing 11 to permit of moving a web of material 14 therethrough. f Y

Means for supporting the initially wet web of material within the .casing 11 comprise a lurality of superposed endless belts of smal -meSh wire 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 21. Each of the endless belts' is supported by relatively large drums or' rollers 22 and 23 that are located in suitably spaced relation and that are supported byv any means (notl shown) usuall .employed 1n the art.. A plurality ofsma er rollers 24 a-re provided for part of a' paper machineto `dry superheated vapor may be prolitably emthe upper portions of each of the hereinbefore mentioned endless belts,vv in order that the upper portion of each of the belts may be maintained somewhat above the plane of the upper part 'of the respective end drums or rollers and relatively close. to the bottom ortion of the adjacent superposed endless y elt, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. As there shown, the initially wet-,web of material is located between -the upper and the lower reaches of the two belts, whereby-any wrinkling of the webof material A is' prevented as -it is being dried'during its passage therebetween.

Means for efecting the drying of the initially wet web of material comprises a plu' rality of heating means 25 that severally comprise refractory supporting members 26, of electrical-insulating material, upon which are mounted suitable resistor elements 27. The heating units 25 are distributed substantially uniformly within the dryer casing and located relatively closely adjacent to the moving web of material. An" electriccurrent traversesthe respective resistor members to thereby heat the same to a relatively high temperature, whereby the greater part of the energy translated in the heat is transferred by direct radiation to the web of material'and tothe endless woven wire beltl from which -it is transmitted to the web of material by conduction.

As the temperature of the resistor mem-v bers is relatively high, ofthe order of 1200 F., a very rapid vdrying action is caused, the fluid linitially in the web being heated tol 2129 F., then transformed into steam at that temperature, and then further heated to a tempera-ture which has been found in actual test to be of the order of 500 F. This operation produces a superheated vapor within the substantiallyv enclosed casing whereby a slight pressure 1s produced within the casing lin excess of that existing on the outside thereof.

An outlet 28 is l provided in the casing 100 through which the dry superheated vapor may either escape, or" be conducted into other devices 'wherein' the heat Istored in the ployed.

.The hereinbefore described construction of a plurality of superposed endless belts permits of passing the initially wet webof of paper.

material through the dryer casing in a circuitous path comprising a plurality of passes, and while l have shown the web of material moving upwardly, that is, the later passes are located above the earlier passes, this order is not significant as it may be necessary or desirable to pass the web ot' material through the casing in the reverse order, or it may even be necessary that the endless belts travel in substantially vertical directions and that the passes be located in side-by-side and vertically-extending relation.

As the speed of travel of the web of material is relatively high and may reach values -vof the order of 100() feet per minute, it is necessary to provide means for effecting the moving of either a lead strip or of the entire web of material from one pass t0 another. By a lead strip is meant, a relatively narrow portion of paper, the width of which is only a small fraction of the width of the normal web of paper.

Means for effecting movement of either such lead strip or of the entire web of paper, comprises an endless belt 29 that travels over a lower drum 31 and an upper drum 32 in a substantially vertical direction, this endless woven wire belt being located at one end of the casing in such position that that portion of the belt traveling upwards as indicated by the arrow 33, is relatively close to the outer portion of the drums 22, the upper drum 32 being located below the leaving web A second endless belt 34, supported by drums 35 and 36, and driven in a substantially vertical direction, the portion thereof that is located closely adjacent to the drums 23 travelling in an upwardly direction as indicated by the arrow 37 is located at the entering end of the casing. The

lower drum 35 is located just above the entering web of paper. All of the drums supporting the two endless belts 29 and 34 are 'suitably mounted in bearing members (not shown) in a manner usual in the art.

I provide further a plurality of conduit members, to be hereinafter described in detail, that are connected to suitable air supply means and thatare respectively provided with openings therethrough located in definite relation to the other portions of the web-supporting means hereinbefore described. Each of these conduits extends for substantially the entire width of the casing, or more particularly of the web of paper and is supported by any suitable means and provided with valves for controlling the air supply. w

A conduit 38 is located outside of the endless belt 29 vimmediately above the drum 22, and is provided with two sets of alined openings therein topermit of the air leaving the same in two different angularly disposed positions. The lower blast of alr, in-

dicated by the arrow 39, is effectiveto cause disengagement of the lead strip from the upper vportion of the belt 15 when the end of the lead strip has reached or moved just beyond the left hand roller 24. A blast of air indicated by the numeral 41 from the conduit 38 effects an upward movement of the lead strip or web 14 and as it is directed against the upwardly moving portion of thev endless belt 29, the web of material is caused to momentarily engage the same whereby it is moved in an upward direction past the drum 22 supporting the left hand end of the endless wire 16.

A conduit 42 is located within the endless wire 29 and is provided with a plurality of openings that cause a blast or jets of air to be forced therefrom i'n a substantially horizontal direction'to eiiect disengagement of the web of paper from the upwardly moving portion of the endless belt-29. The arrow 43 indicates the general direction of the air blast which is eective not only to disengage the web from the wire belt 29 but also to cause it to operatively engage and rest upon the upper portion ofl the endless belt 16, particularly that portion between the left hand drum 22 and the left hand smaller roller 24. It is understood of course that the movement of the respective endless belts 15 to 2l inclusive are asuch that the upper portion of one belt and the lower portion of the superposed belt movein the same direction and that this movement is such as to effect the movement of the web of material backward and forward within the casing as was hereinbeforev described.

lVhen the front end of the lead 'strip has reached the right hand end of the belt 16, it is disengaged therefrom by a blast of air, indicated by the arrow 44, issuing from a conduit 45, and is then directedin a substantially upward direction by a second air blast 46 issuing the same conduit. The direction of the blast 46 is'such as to cause the lead strip to engage the upwardly moving'portion of the endless belt 34 whereby it 1s carried into an air blast 47 issuing from a conduit 48 located within the endless belt 34, which causes it to be disengaged therefrom and to follow the upper portion of the endless-belt 17 toward the left.

Additional conduits 49, 51, 52, 53 and 54 are provided in substantially the positions illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, in order to properly co-operate with the vertically moving lportions o the respective endless belts 29 and 34 to effect movement ofthe lead strip or of the web of paper away from and then toward the superposed endless belts to eect its transfer from one pass to another. y

While I have illustrated a substantially upward movement of the web of material, this is not an essential, but the same method of effecting movement of the lead strip away from and toward the cooperating endless belts may be applied where the general path of travel is downward, or where it is either to the rightv or to the left, or at any desired angle.

It may be noted that the respective passes of the initial wet web of material are located substantial distances apart, and that my invention provides a combined mechanical movementand fluid means for. e'ecting disengagement of the web from a primary moving means and for causing it to be moved in a predetermined direction and for a predetermined distance in order to be again moved by the rimary moving means.

Various mo itications may be made in the device and system embodying my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and it is intended'that all such modilications shall be covered by the appended claims, which are to be limited only by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a paper machine, the combination with upper and lower horizontal belts for moving a web of paper, of means moving in a vertical plane for effecting movement of the web in that direction, and pneumatic means for directing the web towards and away from said moving means and away from and towards the moving belts.

2. In a paper machine, the combination with an upper and a lower horizontally moving endless belt, of an air blast mounted adjacent to the lower belt and etective to move a web of paper away from one of the belts, moving means for moving the web in a direction laterally of the moving belts, and a second air blast for eiecting disengagement of the web from the moving means and toward the second belt.

3.- In a paper making machine, the coinbination with a plurality of means separated a substantial distance and operative to sup- Aporta web of paper, of means for automatically transferring the web of paper from one of said means to the other comprising an air.

blast for stripping the web from one of said means, moving means Vfor guiding it across the space between said supporting means,

' and a second air blast for stripping said web 4bination with aplurality of parallel-extending endless belts moving over spaced rollers for supporting a web of paper and located one above another, of a moving endless belt located adjacent to one set of rollers and moving in a direction laterally of said other endless belts, and pneumatic means located on the outside of said laterally moving belt for directing said lead strip against one of the lirst named belts.

6.- In a drying device, the combination with a plurality of parallel-moving endless belts, and a plurality of endless belts positioned at the ends of said belts and moving in a direction lateral to the first-named belts, of pneumatic means Jfor directing a web of moisture-laden material from one of the parallel-moving belts to one of the laterally moving belts and thence to another of the parallel-moving belts.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of July, 1925.

STEPHEN A. STAEGE. 

